Great Guns Filmtracks Santigold for Pepsi

Production company Great Guns mixes molotov cocktails and soccer in their filmtrack for Santigold’s “Kicking Down Doors,” part of Pepsi’s Beats of the Beautiful Game visual album.

For Santigold’s filmtrack, director Andy Morahan was inspired by “The Christmas Truce,” a soccer-fueled temporary peace that took place between English and German forces on Christmas Day, 1915. “The English and German soldiers put down their guns and played some football in No Man’s Land,” explains Morahan. “I was thinking of a way to try and tell that story in a modern light. Obviously I didn’t have the budget for a war scene, but a riot was more reasonable as a severe stand-off between people. It’s showing football, and sport by extension, as this beacon for humanity.”

In the film, a riot breaks out, with molotov cocktail wielding forces squaring off against riot police. A group of boys falls asleep at the edge of the scene. When one of their balls makes its way into the heart of action, both sides throw down their arms and beginning playing an impromptu pickup game. It’s not a bad idea for a World Cup spot, but seems a bit stretched out as an over four minute music video — although you may feel differently if you actually enjoy the song.

Morahan filmed the scene in Kiev, which has seen its share of rioting in recent history, although he insists the location was chosen purely out of convenience. “I was in Prague and wanted to shoot it there but the budget wouldn’t fit, so we were only an hour flight from Kiev and I’d worked there before so knew some people there who could help me out,” he explains. “Really, it was just close by and it fit the budget.” Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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Jaguar Adapts ‘It’s Your Turn’ for a Digital Audience

Jaguar’s campaign for the 2014 F-Type invites people to test drive the car. In the broadcast ad, a driver speeds down various spectator-lined roads around the world. Finally he slides to a stop and tosses the keys to the next handsome man in line. “It’s your turn,” he says.

To adapt their ad for a digital audience, Jaguar’s agency Spark44 apparently designed a takeover ad in which the F-Type drives across the screen and the driver tosses his keys “straight towards the screen.” This sounds cool, conceptually. But in the demonstration I saw, Jaguar’s ad looks like any other pop-out video. It’s basically the broadcast spot with less acting.

The spot is, however, packaged with Jaguar’s social campaign #MyTurnToJag, which offers participants the chance to win the “test drive of a lifetime.” The brand’s resulting Facebook page is reflective of its enthusiastic fans.

Jaguar’s done cool creative work before, hiring Lana del Rey to sing their soundtrack and making a short action-packed film. This digital spot just isn’t all it promises, and I couldn’t care less about watching another typical vroom-vroom car commercial. Credits after the jump.

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